Tags:

Preview of Helena Christensen's new lingerie line (courtesy of British Vogue). She collabo-ed with Triumph (she's already their campaign girl) to design a tri-themed collection; Poetica, Ballerina and Dahlia.

Helena's first design pursuit will be available in-stores and online this upcoming January.

Tags:

Christopher Michael: "If I've got a style, it's that I have no style," the sum of your style in your own words...it couldn't have been said better. If you've yet to be limited by any particular branding, what then do you think is the constant in your work that brings forth the Advertising clients and magazines alike knocking at your door?

Sølve Sundsbø: I hope it's a level of sophistication and quality. It's hard to analyze your own work, but I think the constant for me is that the work shows my curiosity and respect for the people I photograph.

CM: You've referenced the incredible amount of dedication that is exchanged during a working relationship between the 'teacher' and his assistant when talking about your time with Nick Knight...Have you run into a similar relationship with one of your own assistants which feels comparable to that?

SS: I have been very lucky to have had incredibly dedicated assistants, and I couldn't pick one specifically. There is no guarantee, unfortunately, that if you are a good assistant you will make a good photographer. Nick has been a persistently good teacher for his assistants over the years, and I hope that I can bring those lessons to my assistants as well.

CM: I'm sure you will...You've brought up an incredible observation: that we are raised to believe that women's bodies sell products but when you apply that same notion to a male, you're met with some controversy... do you think that still applies? Or have you also noticed the increasingly ever present male nudity in today's editorial pages?

SS: Well there is an increased level of nudity in the world in general, it seems to have become the norm. However, it is interesting how male nudity outside of gay porn still causes a controversy. After the male nude for YSL M7, we did a shoot with GQ Style with Tom Ford and every penis had to be censored. Even though it is not unusual to show full frontal female nude in fashion magazines, male nudes are still considered a taboo.

With regards to male nudity in advertising the six pack and the broad shoulders are the norm, and I guess that this is as unfortunate as the big boobs and flat tummied girls being used for nude shots and the skinny girls being used for fashion. Some people argue that these are healthy ideals, but it's about stereotypes we have become accustomed to. And I think it's great every time this mold can be broken. Diversity is beautiful.

CM: It is actually, and I'm quite curious to see just how this new look into the male anatomy in the industry's eye fully unfolds.. Not all photographers are able to boast equal success in both editorial as well as advertising, you seem to do quite well with both...what's the secret?

SS: It's in the approach; I think they have an equal importance. One doesn't work without the other. Maybe I have also been lucky in being given advertising work that has an editorial quality and a certain freedom. It's hard to keep the balance sometimes, last year was filled with too much advertising, and I want to do more editorial this year.

CM: Too much advertising in this economy? You lucky lucky man...When working on campaigns with legendary lines, you've been able to bring your own art direction to the table..I'm quite curious as to how much resistance you were met with when suggesting the full frontal male nudity for the YSL Fragrance..

SS: The male nudity was not controversial with the client, as the client was YSL when Tom Ford was in charge. Thomas Lenthal, who was the art director for YSL Beauty at the time, and I discussed it at length and worked out several proposals but we both believed strongly in a full frontal male nude. This married nicely to Tom's idea of a hairy chested man in a world of shaved torsos.

CM: Makes sense..In an era where both fashion's followers and it's creators alike have once again called upon the super selling power of the Supermodels, you yourself have partaken in the luxury of their major return in the recent times as well...what for you is the major difference in working with a Supermodel vs. the modern day 'girl of the minute'?

SS: The reason why they are supermodels is often forgotten. They are not necessarily Super just because of their looks, but because they are incredible performers in front of the camera. Being a photographer is easy when you work with a Supermodel. They do so much of the work for you. When you work with new models you have the luxury of a blank page. You can impose much more of your ideas into the picture without it having previous connotations. Sometimes you are lucky and find a brand new model with the ability to interpret what you want to do, and more often than not they become the new Supermodels.

Peter Lindbergh: Nothing comes from dreaming. My dreams, if I ever remember them, are so complex, that I wouldn't try to turn them into a story for a fashion magazine. There are too many rules you have to follow. Just the fact, that every new picture needs a different outfit, will make a lot of ideas impossible. I think you can use your Dreams to create images, when you don't have the limitations of Fashion photography, and you work for yourself or your gallery.

HC: My favorite story that I ever did was the one we did together for Italian Vogue with the little alien. Where did this particular idea for the story come from?

PL: The idea to shoot this story was born in my dentists waiting room in Paris. Someone left a small pile of tacked together Xeroxes on the table, with images and notes from UFO watchers all over the world. One of them was Mr. Kienzle, close by the El Mirage Dry Lake. I was fascinated by these images, mostly just reflections on the Sky, I guess and decided to do a Martian Story. That was exactly when you passed by my studio for the first time to show your pictures. I was stunned.....by you!! The perfect new face for the story just walked into my studio! The only thing left was to Write a Story, with a beginning and an end, and fly to L.A to shoot it.

HC: You have a way of photographing women that make them seem like strong, fierce and independent women. Is this important for you to convey about women to the viewer?

PL: To define and to propose a very personal view on Women, has always been very important for me. I think that this is the most important and exciting part of fashion photography. When you look back, every Decade has defined a certain type of women, basically through the work of one or two photographers not to mention the work of designers, editors, hair and make up etc. During each decade, there is a lot of experimenting going on, by many photographers. To come back to your question, only these photographers who had the sensibility "to put the pieces together", to define the women who represents a certain decade, are the ones we still know.

HC: What kind of light do you prefer working in?

PL: Every light has its own beauty....

HC: Mention 3 contemporary artists you would like to exchange your art with for theirs..

PL: Michael Heizer, Gerhard Richter, Joseph Kosuth.

HC: What has been your favorite location over time to photograph in and why?

PL: My favorite locations to work, you should know, are the deserts and dry lakes, large and unromantic beaches, movie studios backlots, and down town Los Angeles. I like any place which adds something interesting to a Story I have on my mind...

HC: Why do you think photography is such an interesting art-form?

PL: I wouldn't say that photography is an especially interesting Art form. It is just one out of many, and by accident the one I fell into and stuck with, because I can express myself perfectly with these little black machines...

HC: What is the most amazing visual or moment you have ever seen that you didn't photograph?

PL: When I was twenty, My mother looked into my eyes for quite a moment, she was dying...